Wonderful Wonderful Romance: Of Jokes And Deals
by chaos-dark-lord
Summary: This was the most twisted friendship ever. None knew exactly what that meant. But Joker needs his "friend's" help because only a foreigner can kill Joker... or so he thought. And one way or another she will help him... If he can open up her heart after he it was sealed away. He ain't the only villain around anymore.
1. Under arrest

**Follow–up romance route for the series "Wonderful Wonderful Science". So it's recommended to read that.**

.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: UNDER ARREST**

**.**

Joker utterly hated this and hated everyone. He had far better things to do than to deal with this; more so when his counterpart was still back in his room in such condition. But he at the very least needed to save appearances and not show any weakness even if someone had been stupid enough to call on a council just to satisfy the stupid girl's whims.

Due to Alice's insistence on a meeting, when everyone had come back from Diamond after the Jabberwocky had gotten lose and clashed with the mercenary foreigner known as "Aria Hadron Scherzi" into an epic battle that ended up with the merc being sent to Spades and thus permanently getting her out of the picture, everyone was forced in yet another useless gathering.

He was wearing his warden's uniform and couldn't tolerate this. The game had cheated on him and was screwing him up far worse than anyone else. Life wasn't fair but this was just far bitchier that even he could manage.

No one wanted to be here. Much less speak about the second foreigner. Her disappearance was still too fresh and he was fed up with his. Sure, he wished his so called merc "friend" would come back, but wishing served for nothing. She was gone and that was it and it bothered him that even when he wanted to blame her and hate her for this he couldn´t.

He got up and turned his back to the depressively quarreling group that was already disbanding when a black hole opened above them like an eye in the sky, and from it came clashing against the table a figure clad in a dark armored technological suit, that had unleashed the side blades of her forearms to slash against tendrils of darkness that were trying to grab her and pull her back into the portal of shadows.

_"Aria!"-_ Everyone screamed upon seeing the second foreigner along with their personal inserted phrases.

The strange portal began closing, but the darkness tendrils began attacking everything that moved as the mercenary girl slashed at a vine like tendril that had grabbed her by her ankle. She got free and her body hit the table; to avoid another attack she rolled incidentally directly to where Joker was dealing with some attacks on himself by the lost bullets that came his way.

Seeing his chance, he jumped right over the tech-armored foreigner and grabbed her hands over her back to close some handcuffs on them.- _"You are under arrest!_ " - He immediately threw her over his shoulder as he jumped away to avoid knives, swords and bullets as all hell broke lose all around.

_"You´re going to hit her idiots_"- Someone called and people began attacking each other as much as the things coming out of the soon to be closed portal.

_"It's alright, I'll apologize and explain later to everyone!"_ – Aria called with her strange digitally distorted voice, not minding being arrested and kidnapped. However she didn't look fine either. It was obvious that she'd been fighting for a while.

Without losing time Joker jumped to the door behind him and called for the elevator to reach his own territory. Lucky for him, the knives and bullets from the other roleholders that had the guts to shot him when he was carrying the girl, hadn't hit in fatal spots. Only a foreigner could kill Joker.

The doors of the elevator closed behind him and he dropped Aria.

_"Ouch!"-_ She managed to stand up and looked at Joker. He was sweating, breathing heavily and his look was, to say the least, distressed.- "_Joker. You aren't alright. "_

He blinked; surprised that she seemed truthfully worried about him. However, this was partly her fault. She was guilty. Or so he wanted her to be.

_"YOU FOOLISH WOMAN! What the hell happened_!?" –Joker looked as angry as he was baffled and tried to hide that he had been worried.

Up to this point, not even he knew what had been going on with her. She had not played the game as it was supposed to happen, nor had she acted like a foreigner should at all. Her existence was indescribable and he at times had felt that she was his own Joker, and the fact that she had a sort of deal and connection with his role thanks to the old connector mask-shaped earrings from a past Joker she wore, didn't make it easier as they released her from his influence.

_"I´ll… I´ll tell you later. But first tell me what is wrong with you White?"- _She was infuriatingly calm.

_"WHAT'S WRONG!? "–_ He slammed her against the back of the elevator and put his shaky hand on her neck – _"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! MY FRICKING "BEST FRIEND" ALMOST CAUSED THE _extinction_ OF THIS WORLD BEFORE UNLEASHING A _creature_ THAT CAN DETROY THIS WONDERLAND AND THEN SHE WAS PRACTICALLY _DESTROYED'_ IN A FIGHT WITH SAID CREATUR BEFORE DISSAPERING AND MAKING ME THINK YOU WERE FOREVER TRAPPED IN A DEAD MOMENT!"-_ HIS GRIP TIGHTENED but it was not very effective on the armored collar piece of her suit._ He got his face close to her and growled-"Not to mention that I…."-_He managed to stop himself from saying it._ -" What makes you think that I'm White! I'm simply Joker."_

She looked confused and even showed surprise and remorse. A great feat from someone that lacked feeling. Then her gaze hardened and she kicked him away from her – _"I asked you what is wrong with YOU White. I tell you what happened in Spades later. But now I'm worried about you. You look sick, pale and weak. And I'd know which one is White and which one is Black even when both of you are Joker. I wouldn't be a good friend if I wasn't even capable of distinguish that."_

_"Such a good friend you are!"_ – He was still surprised by her worrying about him even when he had said she was arrested and she knew what he was capable of doing. More so because she was in clearly no conditions to fight. She looked tired and battered too.

_"I told you that I wasn't good in this friendship thing. And you can take of these cuffs. I ain't running from you"_ –She looked calmer despite the handcuffs limiting her movements and possible defense.

Just then, the elevator stopped and the door opened to a corridor in the prison.

He moved her inside the prison and she didn't resist. He uncuffed her and took her to Black's room without saying anything to her and she responded with equal silence.

When they reached their destination, he opened the door and pushed her inside. The place was barely lit and on the bed was Black laying in the bed with a huge bandage on his torso covering a bleeding gash. Arias eyes widened and she ran to the side of the bed. The warden was unconscious, breathing hard and sweating. Now she understood why White seemed to be in pain. He was feeling what his counterpart was suffering. - _"What the friggin hell happened?! Cómo chingados quedaste así!?"-_ She even returned to use her mother tongue.

The jester saw her moving her weird equipment over his counterpart and taking into his battered state. It was useless. He had tried everything and he had seen what happened to such large wounds and heavy loss of blood. And despite being in his own territory he wasn't healing. It was impossible; the wound was not normal, it had been done at the battle in the castle of Diamond by one of the shadow copies of the Jabberwocky, that had concentrated it's antiexistence into that attack, and because the Jabberwocky is a thing that can destroy shit because it's the antienergy born of the darkest emotions of foreigners, it had actually managed to hurt even him. There was no helping it. He knew his counterpart was dying.

She unwrapped the wound on his torso to get a better lecture and she gulped. Not that she hadn't seen or done worse, but she hadn't got a real friend in years and he was the closest to it.

Joker gritted his teeth, still unsure as to why he had brought her here. When she appeared he had only though of snatching her and bringing her here. Maybe he had wanted a last taste of her friendship or her pity. The only he had ever received. Perhaps he had wanted to show what she had caused. Or maybe he wanted her help and the mercy she claimed to not have but in the word "mercenary". He took a deep breath and responded- "_It was the Jabberwocky. This is what happens to those attached by it. They get destroyed, literally they cease to be_."

_"What!?"- _She looked between both parts of Joker.

_"I'm calling upon your so called friendship. Only a foreigner can kill Joker."-_ Seeing his other self like that was pathetic. He had even tried to kill him to see if he recovered but in vain. Now He knew what he wanted of her-"_I don't know what will happen. When he dies maybe I'll slowly cease to exist too; or maybe I'll die with him at the same time… That would even be better than remain as only a part of myself…"_

"_You can't be serious_"- She was the one gritting her teeth now.

_"I want you to kill me."_ – He was dead serious and desperate. He couldn't think of himself as only half of himself. That scared him more than true death.

_"Like hell I will!"-_ She stood up to him.

He slapped her and threw her over the bed besides his counterpart; once again he griped her throat; this time right below her jaw and over the collar of her suit to meet real damageable flesh.

_"Defend yourself and kill me or I'll kill you instead."- _His grip tightened and he sat over her with his legs at the sides of her hips and leaning over her with his other hand at the side of her head.

_"NO! I WON'T KILL MY BEST FRIEND_." –She didn't defend herself.- "_ITS NOT OVER JOKER."_

_"OF ALL THE TIMES YOU HAD TO DEVELOP A HUMAN CONCIENCE…!– _His red eye glinted with fury. He knew that as absurd as it was, he was one of the few strains she had to her own conscience. Killing him would probably destroy whatever was left of her thin and twisted sanity. But he didn't care at all. He would do anything and everything to achieve this. If she hated him she would kill him. It wouldn't be hard. He was usually very good on getting that from people, specially female prisoners.- "_I'LL MAKE YOU HATE ME!"_

With his free hand he grabbed her suit and opened the air sealed latches as she had taught him in case she ever needed medic help badly enough that it would require someone taking of her suit. He received a slight electric shot from her suit's inner circuits at it was peeled of her skin. Her gaze went wide with shock when his hand went to her chest and she understood what he was trying to do, and then her eyes glared at him with disgust.

Doing this would truly earn him a dreadful death. But if he needed to rape her to get her to hate him and kill him, so be it.

.

.

* * *

**Sadly I have limited time to write, so updates will be determined by which story is reviewed. **


	2. The price of a deal

.

CHAPTER 2: **THE PRICE OF A DEAL**

**.**

.

She got far more than angry at him for even thinking that such thing as rape would work against her. He was desperate but it was not an excuse. It even was obvious that he barely had enough strength at all and she was not going to tolerate this. In a quick move, she made a grip on his neck with one leg and then used the other in a scissor kick to throw him off her and into the hard ground.

"_Listen up Joker! Remember that little deal everyone made with me before you all sent me into a suicidal mission to get to Alice!? Well, guess what!? My undeniable request with yours or any role is that whatever I order will be obeyed unquestionably!"_ – She barked with merciless malice as her eyes shone with a digital hue and the world stopped.

No other sound but their ragged breaths resounded in the air.

Joker's eye widened and he moved to launch himself and strangle her.

"_HOW DARE YOU! ...AHHHGGHHH!"-_ A scorching sensation engulfed him like a burning web, it was not only his body, he felt it in all his being, in all his role, it was completely binding and it was the will of this world.

Not so long as it seemed, during a concert event at the amusement park, there had been a well-planned and well-coordinated attack from various factions. They had managed to capture Alice and had almost captured Aria and had used that to make all roleholders stay put in one place. However, Aria had managed to move by herself thanks to her experience as a mercenary. She had managed to establish communication and had exposed her grim situation; she was in the middle of the fight, completely outnumbered and outgunned, already hurt and without support.

And what had they done?

They of course asked her to go and get Alice. Some hired her to get Alice 'permanently' out of the way just for the fun, and others of course hired her to go and get Alice out of danger. None really gave a second though about Aria's own safety until later.

That completely destroyed whatever little trust or care the mercenary girl might have gave during her stay in Wonderland.

With all due scorn, she had accepted the deal whether she helped Alice or not at the end. As payment for engaging in the mission she asked for a huge monetary compensation for every kill she directly or indirectly caused; and as payment for fulfilling her contract when she reached Alice, she asked something that no one would have thought possible. They offered whatever she wanted and Joker had came up with the idea of one undeniable request from his part. She had asked that from everyone but sworn by their roles. An oath that would be fulfilled by their roles independently of their current holders, something that they could not refuse or twist, a promise almost as strong as a rule.

She had been very angry. And somehow, the king had used his power as ruler of Hearts, and because the oath had been done during an official event, any deal made with her that night was accepted and enforced by Wonderland itself.

Joker never thought that such deal would come to bite him in the ass so hard.

The burning sensation concentrated on the back of his hand and into a mark that faded from view but that would never disappear from his being. He would have never though that she would ask something so binding and terribly wicked.

Now he really was about to kill her. He would have had she not acted first.

"_Now you WILL stay put and away from me while I do my best to save BOTH OF YOU Joker!_."- She stood up with despise on her gaze that burned like the flames of hell.

"_You fucking bitch..."-_ His red eye shone with pure hatred and his finger closed as if they were around her throat.

She walked past him and stopped at the entrance. - "_And if I can´t do anything I promise you that I will kill you_."- She didn't look at him as she made her way toward the bed where Black laid in unrest.

White on his part didn't even followed her. He couldn't. The command to stay away had been absolute and he couldn't violate it no matter if he wanted to launch himself at her and beat her skull into the ground repeatedly until only a bloody and gory mass remained.

She came back to Black's side and cussed heavily when she saw his chest. It was bad. She wasn't exactly fine herself but he was far worse. From her suit she took out a few ruby red pills made or her own crystalized blood and she threw them towards White. She had learned that even foreigner's cells contained a bit of their mana life energy, thus, even blood or something as simple as a kiss that exchanged saliva, could enhance the natural processes of healing from people in this world. A natural injection of life. The pills were useless to her, but they were a nice power-up for wonderlanders and they sold for high amounts in the black market even if people didn't know what they were.

"_Swallow those!"_

Without a choice he did so and immediately felt a small rush of energy that made him feel a bit better. He had heard of this kind of pills and wondered how she had them and why she was giving them to him.

She returned towards Black and took out her field equipment to try and analyze what was wrong with him. She tried a general analysis and went from mode to mode until a violet hue illuminated the integrated lenses in her eyes so that she could see the energy and electromagnetic fields with her optic implants.

From the doorway White saw her bark a long string of cusses and curses in her mother language.

She had detected that there was that anti-energy of the Jabberwocky clung onto the wound, like a dark film that blocked the natural mana energy that should be absorbed in order for him to regenerate and heal. That was why the Jabberwocky had been so feared, because before she made a deal with it, the creature was a mass of antienergy created by all the hatred and despair from foreigner, and as such, it could nullify and eliminate the natural mana energy harvested from the outsiders love and positive emotions. None really knew the details that she had discovered, but what she such knowledge had allowed her to destroy the mindless beast in Diamond, and later on to make a deal with the original role of "the jabberwocky" in Spades...

It made sense why Black hadn't healed even when he was in his own territory. Roleholders were supposed to be able to naturally gain mana and share it with their territories, even if they weren't aware of such fact. It was one of Wonderlands ways to make use of foreigners while the game was on or even when it was actually won or until they weren't there anymore. They could receive the power that came from the shared life, love and time of a foreigner and condense it back into theirs lands.

Of course neither roleholdes or foreigners were supposed to be aware of that.

She augmented her zoom as much as she could and then took out a mini field microscope from her things. She saw the effects of the Jabberwocky's attack on Joker as a sort of oily wall that was cutting him from wonderlands energy. And without that, people from this world were even weaker than a foreigner. However there was a way. Being a foreigner, she was a source of mana energy. She might not be able to produce much like Alice's real love, but she had the knowledge to manipulate it and she could try using the same trick of the Jabberwocky's anti-existence against it. If she could direct her own energy towards the Jabberwocky's on Black's wounds, she would be able to nullify and destroy it.

1-1=0

She put her hand on his chest and the digitally light of her eyes turned to purple as she concentrated in one very defined section of the spectrum; she took a deep breath, knowing just how much this would cost her, and lowly sang some little tune in her language, a soft lullaby with a strict tempo to set up a radiation rhythm.

White barely heard her words, but he felt warmness seeping on his counterparts chest as she directing her own mana towards the wound so that both energies could clash and cancel each other. Then he felt a cold burning heat on Black's torso, but as she went along in her little trick he began feeling better. Whatever she was actually doing, it was working.

She allowed herself a grin at the success.

By the time she finished she knew she was close to pass out and she accommodated herself at Black's side. Her hand trembled and she considered that there was one more thing she could do to help him accelerate his recovery rate. She moved her lips towards the warden's mouth and prepared to direct all her remaining intent towards him. Before she did so, she addressed the Jester without even turning to look at him. - "_Stay the fuck away from me White. I'll stay here with Black... as a foreigner, even my proximity helps..."_

The next second White felt her soft lips crashing on his counterpart's. It was not a timid kiss. She parted his lips and used her tongue to caress his's and used her teeth to lightly pull on his lip. He felt as if this kiss was a taste of life. It was not a mere kiss. It was far more than that. Whatever she was doing was like taking a thousand of those ruby pills, make them powder and sniffing them while drinking the best wine of the world and getting hardcore fucked. It didn't last. All too soon she passed out from exhaustion. And he was left wondering what to do.

He tried taking a step closer but he couldn't. She had been clear about wanting him away. Instead he hit the wall in frustration and stormed away.

What the heck had she really done!?

.

.

* * *

.

**That was a deal with the devil, right? I don't know who is more devious, if Joker or Aria... both shouldn't be trusted or taken lightly. **

**Still she did her best to help him... at least for now. He really tried something very bad and Aria is not someone that forgets or forgives.**

**I know that the explanation about here regarding the Jabberwocky is a bit confusing. If you want the whole explanation (including what deal was that) and even the scientific description you can check the last chapters of the original fic "Wonderful Wonderful Science: Diamond Dust" , I will also add it later in a simplified version in the mini notes on the one-shot "Wonderful Wonderful Science of a Wonderful world"**

**Alas, the explanation about the energy, blood and pills is also in fic "Wonderful Wonderful Science"**


	3. Goodbye my friend

.

CHAPTER 3: **GOODBYE MY FRIEND**

.

A couple of days passed and White hadn't seen or even spoke to her. The only time he had tried to, she straight up sent him to fuck off without even looking at him. After that, his only contact with her had been through his counterpart's senses and it bothered him greatly that whatever she was doing to the warden felt so good and so relieving; but after what had transpired between them when he brought here, he couldn't understand why she was still helping him.

First, it had been the afterimages that she had allowed to assist her while White had returned to the circus with no desire to be down at the prison. But soon weariness and hunger drove the foreigner to the kitchen. That was when Black woke up.

The warden found himself in his bed with a stinging sensation on his chest and soreness in his whole body. He wasn't sure what the hell had happened or how he had healed. He had been sure that he was not gonna make it. So how in hell was he alive?

He stood up with a lot more dizziness than he expected, and the soft smell of warm food made him move towards the kitchen. When he arrived. He saw the last person he thought he'd see. His so called 'best friend' and mercenary foreigner that had fought the frumius Jabberwocky, Aria hadron Scherzi, wearing the dreaded pink apron that refused to disappear from his kitchen over her full armor and preparing something that smelled very nice. He was relieved to see that she was alive.

His stomach growled and she turned around with a red gleam in her eyes that immediately faded to her natural olive green shade when she saw him.

.

"_Black! You're awake!_"- She leaved the pan on the stove and went to the warden right away to examine him.– "_Are you alright? How are you feeling? You should be in bed._"

"_Back off woman_!"- The warden said and pushed her away but felt a slight blush and amiable sensation at her worry and felt glad that she was fine and back.

.

She took a step away and her soft smile twisted into heinous mock as her gaze hardened to look at him with due seriousness and without any emotion betraying her fair face as to what might be going in her mind or heart.– "_Do you think you'll be fine now?_"

He saw that she had a purple hit on her jaw and was tempted to reach for it. He wondered how long she had been here or what had happened. Last time he had seen he she had been rammed by the Jabberwocky and thrown to a portal. He tried connecting to the jester to know what had happened, but his counterpart was nowhere around the prison and was keeping himself disconnected from him.

.

"_Of course I will_ _idiot_."

.

She brought her hands to her chest and sighted. The gesture was off. - "_Good. Then my deal with you is over Joker_"

Black immediately got a sense that something was very, very wrong. And when she used the same hand that had been over her heart to form a first and hit him with all her force on the jaw to then kick him in the stomach and sent him crashing to the ground, he got far more confirmation than he would have liked that things were wrong with her and that he was still far too weak.

.

"_What the fuck bitch!?_"- He screamed at her from the ground.

.

She stood over him, impassive and arrogant, looking down at him with scorn and disdain - "_Listen Joker. DONT FUCKIGN DARE ANYTHING AGAINST ME AGAIN!"- _ She took off the apron and threw it over him.

He was surprised by her actions, but the icy cruelty of her gaze had been what left him motionless. He knew that look well enough. He was very used to receiving the hatred looks of many; but never even a scornful gaze from her. It confused him… And it hurt.

She narrowed her eyes and turned away before throwing a final despising look over her shoulder towards him. - "_Goodbye 'my friend'_"- Was the last things she said before disappearing.

A couple minutes later the burned smell of what she had been preparing made him react and turn off the stove. Then he went to see look for his counterpart, angry and confused at what had transpired.

Black found the Jester in an empty circus tent. All the workers were avoiding both of him like the plague, and when he confronted his counterpart the jester was gloomy and in a murderous mood, giving him the back. Not that the warden cared.

.

"_What the fuck happened, Jester_!?"- He put his hand on his counterparts shoulder to turn him around.

"_It doesn't fucking matter Warden. We are fine._ "- The jester growled throw clenched teeth and shoved his other self from him. Then his red eye turned fierce and he connected with his counterpart to let the other Joker into all the information of what had happened since the warden was unconscious.

"_You what!? You fucking idiot!_" – Black threw a punch at his counterpart's jaw.

.

The jester didn't resist. Now the two (or three) would have a purple mark on their faces for a couple time changes.

Black fumed a string of curse and leaved the jester there to return to his own domain among violent treats and curses. He feared that he had probably just lost the only friend and funniest toy he'd ever had… but it wasn't possible, was it? The damn psychopathic girl didn't have feelings. So as soon as she had calmed down she would come back and apologize, would she?

At the very least, now that she had such freacking power over his role she was sure to come back later to make use of it, and he would force her to apologize then.

.

.

Had he known what she was planning and how dangerous things would become for Wonderland, he would have run to stop her. But while he was leaving things cool down, Aria had made her somber way with aplomb to the castle of hearts and had officially requested an audience with the kings.

That was the first clue that something was wrong. She hated bureaucracy and official stuff.

She was taken into the audiences room as presented with all formality, and as soon as the herald announced her, she threw away all protocols and spoke what she wanted.

.

"_Let us cut the pleasantries your majesties."-_ Her face was still like a doll's and her olive green eyes had none of the brightness that illuminated them before._ -"I'm here to request that you seal away my heart."- _She didn't let them speak even when they stood up in shook, and it was obvious that this was not a request. It was a demand. _\- "Yes. I know about that old rule that says that if a foreigner asks for it, such thing must be done._ "

.

.

* * *

.

.

**To seal away her heart… what could that mean? How dangerous for Wonderland can that be?  
**

**5 reviews for the next update in this or the other stories.**

**Oh, and I released an M-rated shot with White. **

**.**

**.**


	4. A Closed-Off Heart

.

**CHAPTER 4: ****A CLOSED-OFF HEART**

.

After Aria's words, Peter White, the prime minister, immediately pointed his gun at her with astonished disgust. –_"Even for the likes of you, that is too vile to yourself."_

Her eyes narrowed and she sneered. – "_You will put down your weapon and not threaten me, __Prime Minister_."- She commanded, and as she had ordered, he was forced to lower his weapon.

"_How!? What is happening!?"- _Peter yelled as he felt the burning power over his role engraved on the back of his hand.

"_You all made a deal with me in the name of your __Roles__. I have made effective that promis_e."- She didn't care to explain further_.-"To demonstrate and since your presence here is unwanted, __White__ Rabbit … Change to your other form now and go away from here._"

Peter transformed and ran away while the king stood up from his seat and looked sadly at her –"_Yes. There is a way to close a foreigner's heart. But such is too dire. Surely the consequences of such are not in part with whatever has caused this decision on you?_

Aria looked at him with a tired but emotionless expression. _–"The decision is taken."_

Vivaldi grabbed the voluminous skirts of her blood-red gown tightly and growled. –" _Reconsider then. You can still change your mind. Do you know what will happen. All the consequences for you? "_

"_At the very least it will make things interesting for a while, __Queen of Hearts__. It's not as if any of you __Role Holders__ care __about__ how it'll end_." – She hissed back- _" Now lets get this over with. It's a rule regarding on what a foreigner wants. You can't deny__ that__."_

The king nodded and took of one of his golden rings and held it out for Vivaldi, who took one of her own ring and put it inside the one from the king. The joined rings gained a glow and then transformed into a little rounded vial that contained some thick red liquid. Aria took a step towards them, clearly demonstrating what was needed, and took out her own vial of the game of hearts, took the rounded one held out to her by the royal pair, and drank the red liquid.

Aria grimaced and took a hand over her chest right above her heart as if she was feeling a deep pain in that spot. She let her own vial drop and it glowed. Before it reached the floor, it transformed itself into a golden key that disappeared into thin air.

Without a word, she went away while the royal pair watched helplessly her disappearing form. The rules stated they couldn't do anything.

"_I fear the worst, my Queen._" – the king didn't bothered with the royal 'we'.

"_Now only the cause of this can make that key appear and reopen which has been closed_."- Vivaldi replied with a frown. "_We pray something is done before the worst comes."_

A few days passed, and meanwhile in the circus grounds White was preparing the acts for the imminent "April Fool's Season"; but truth be told he was not very motivated. The jester side of Joker couldn't think of an awesome act or even new business ideas. He was distracted and had no motivation, but he wasn't the only one.

Down at the prison Black was grumpier than ever. He was bothered and had been in a very nasty mood since the incident with his only real friend. It had bothered, even affected him, more than it should. Once the warden was physically up to it, he had taken his ire and frustration on all the prisoners left at his domains; so much, that at the moment there were very few inmates remaining and they would surely not last long due to the warden's horrible mood.

He was very frustrated. Things haven't gone his way at all, and to top it, during the gap of time from when he was off at the other side of the mirror, something had happened; the general population in both Heart and Clover countries were lower than ever. It also seemed as if something was being brewing in the underworld, for few rules had been broken lately. He needed to go and investigate, but he didn't felt like it. He was grumpy, moody and hadn't even got out of his underground domain at all since waking up. All because of that fucking piece of a mercenary that he couldn't stop thinking about.

He was angry with her and he was angry with himself. He already had her, he had practically captured her when his counterpart brought her here after she fell from that portal (What the heck had been that?) , but he had angered the unstable idiot so much that she had gone away like a prickly drama queen. How dare she!? She was HIS friend. She had no right to go away and leave him here!... Still, he couldn't help feeling just the slightest tint of pity and comprehension because he knew what she'd passed through before she fell into Spades.

Black cussed and hit a wall upon remembering what he saw happened in her world and what she'd faced in this damnable world. Her stay in wonderland hadn't been a stroll in the park. She had gotten hurt in one way or another at every single event. It was natural that she was very wary and careful with whom she trusted, and he knew that he had fucked up big time with what he'd done. That only gave him more reason to get her and permanently trapped her in a secure cell, but he wasn't just going to bite his own pride and try to apologize. She wouldn't accept it anyways. She only gave people 1 single chance if any at all.

He growled. It wasn't as if this was completely his fault either, right? She had said that she was his friend, so she should be the one to come back and apologize.

The warden angrily strode down a corridor when a headless body came flying from a side route. He moved aside to let it impact on the wall as the head rolled on the floor, and another figure that hadn't appeared in a while came into view.

"_Oi, Boss. It seems that you ran out of prisoners._" - Ace appeared in the intersection wearing his Executioner's uniform and his trademark smile. However it was obvious to Joker that something was off... strained...

"_What the hell, __Executioner__! You haven't been around __for twenty time changes__ and now you wanna do all the work in one go_? – He said while kicking the head on the floor.

Ace closed his eyes as his smile remained in place and lifted his sword towards Joker. – _"Not really. I just happened to use the chance to train against your prisoners while I was looking for the key to Aria's pretty foreigner heart. You wouldn't happen to know where it is would you_?"

"_What the heck are you fucking talking about_?"- Joker's eye narrowed. Ace wasn't trustworthy… What was the idiot really talking about?

"_Oh? You didn't know Mr. Joker? Weren't you supposed to be her friend or something?_ – Ace opened his red eyes and looked funny at the warden _–"Aria had her heart sealed away and there is supposedly a key somewhere in the country that can open it again but no one had a clue where it might be_."- He then sheathed hi sword- "_But it seems it isn't here either._"- He turned around and walked away.

"_What happened to that dimwit of a foreigner, __Executioner__?"_ – Joker called. His clock suddenly felt cold, she wouldn't do something like that, would she? No one could be that stupid, right?

Ace didn't stopped his pace as he walked away- _"If you can find her, ask her _yourself, boss."

Black cussed once more and this time he didn't know if it was because he was worry, because he was angry, or both. He transported himself to the circus to meet his counterpart, who was already the entrance waiting for him to leave.

"_She is a fucking idiot! Did she even knew what would happen to a foreigner that has her heart sealed in this world_?- He was growling and practically frumius.

"_Knowing 'my friend', she did._"- White's smile looked feral. Joker knew that with her heart sealed her time and memories here in wonderland would slowly fade and be replaced by those of her world. And with her heart sealed, not only was she truly unable to feel (not that she could before), but also all she had experience here would cease to exist for her until she reverted to the time line of her world. In her case, an inhuman war machine with no sense of who she had been.

Both Joker headed out.- "_It seems that I'll have to go and take care of my friend._"- Both Jokers said at the same time and it sounded like a single voice.

.

* * *

.

**5 reviews for the next one.**


	5. Madness and Darkness

.

**CHAPTER 5: MADNESS ANS DARKNESS  
**

.

Joker, both of him, had been walking around the parts of town where he might get information but now he was practically at the other edge of town and nothing. It had already been a while and it was obvious that things were strangely empty and slow no matter where he looked. There were few people on the normally busy streets and many small businesses were closed. Something was up and he just had a hunch about it. Still, this was not the time to check on that, his top priority was to find that greedy moron of a foreigner.

He had "asked" about and around, but so far there were no clues as to where Aria was. After she had gotten away from the castle no one had seen her or had been willing to say anything, not even to Joker, and if there was some information that not even Joker could find, then that something didn't exist or was very amiss.

_"What are we going to do once we find that little stupid runt?"-_ Black growled. His little patience had run out already, however it was obvious that he eagerly wanted to find her. If she truly had been so stupid as to seal her heart, then there was no way of knowing how many days she had left. Despite himself, Joker was just maybe a bit worried.

White stopped his pace. -"_I actually haven't thought of that, but we can drag her back to my territory and…"_

"_And wait for her to order us to get the fuck away? " –_ Black interrupted and stopped by his counterpart's side. It wouldn't be as easy, not when she commanded the power to order his role around. That made her a big threat and her inner paranoia she knew it and what it meant.

"_Mmhh.. true. Why don't we tempt her with an easy job and a huge payment? Her shallow greedy nature will do the rest and have her come back to us._" –White considered that such bait would be enough. The mercenary could be extremely greedy and she was normally willing to negotiate.

_"Pff! Don't you remember how angry she was? Last time she was so angry, no clock could be repaired and the Jabberwocky got released." –_ The warden was obviously not convinced a mere bait would work, at least not anymore. What if her anger was far bigger than her greed? That seemed to be the current case. What could he do then? He really didn't want her to be angry with him. He didn't want the idiot to go away from his grasp.

"_I didn't think you could be so susceptible to a girl's mood, Joker."-_ White dismissed his counterpart's worry. It bothered him. No person should be allowed to cause Joker such rush. – " _We can simply attack her, gag her so she can't speak ,and set her nicely immobilized in one of our cells until we fix this mess and fix her._"

_"Sounds like a good plan._" – That was something that he could do, and probably the only way he would be able to try and set things right without her causing hell.

Both Jokers agreed on that. They had been ready to go to the next area of town when, coming out of a small side street, a panicked man came running away from something. The weird thing was that when he saw at both sides of the streets and pinpointed both Joker's, instead of running the other way he went straight to both of him.

The man dared to grab White by the clothes -"_Joker! I broke the rules, please take me to the prison_!"

Black blinked and then hit him aside to the ground while White raised an eyebrow at this. Both Jokers looked at each other. Someone asking to be taken to the prison was new.

"_HE CAME THIS WAY!"_

The shout had come from the same street that the man, and not a second later, a few thugs , all wearing light armored clothes, came into view. They were obviously chasing the guy, but unlike him, they did stop when they saw Joker, and Joker saw that at their belts, bloody clocks hanged in plain view.

The man in the floor tried standing up but Black kicked him besides the knees to make him fall again. The man grabbed the warden by the shoe-"_Please Joker, take me to the prison or kill me now. It's better than what she'll do!"_

The response the man got was a kick from Joker. Black would have say something else, but a digitally distorted voice rumbled in the air. A voice that Joker immediately knew who it belonged to.

_"Why did you stop? Get him!"_

Aria appear on the street and walked in front of the thugs. She was wearing her full combat attire. Her face was covered by some sort of thick goggles and her mouth was hidden by a sort of gas mask, all below the hoodie of the leather coat she wore over a tactic vest and pants that surely hid well her armored suit below. When she saw Joker, without a single regard or hello, she pointed her finger towards the desperate man at Joker's feet.

_"That one there is my prey "-_ She claimed.

_"Then get him"-_ Black kicked the man in the floor once again, and the man tried to get up and run away in some other direction, one of the men besides Aria stood at the side, aimed, and shot the escaping man in the legs to make him fall.

"_Step aside Joker_" –Her voice half growled, half chirmed. However, it wasn't meant as an order. It had been said as a warning.

Ignoring this, White addressed Aria-"_My dear, please don't tell me that you really were stupid enough to seal your heart away?" – _White was expectant. Bloody mercenary or not, Aria was still a foreigner and valued life, even if it was only to save ammunition and keep herself hidden, or because she liked clean and fast jobs. She always went straight for the kill. Getting this man shot in the legs was not her style.

_"What if I did?"_ –She motioned to the men behind her while raising her hand to make some signals – _"I was emotionless already, so it doesn't make a difference now."-_ She took a step forward while the men behind her hesitantly began dispersing.

The man in the floor was clearly terrified of her, so much that he crawled towards the warden to pull on his leg -"_Please Joker, kill me! Don't let her get my cloc__k! She already got everyone else here!"_

White saw the man's despair and turned to his (probably 'ex') friend- _"This one's desperate. I wonder what he did to anger you... or what you intend to do with him to have a man to plead be taken by me?" – _He really was starting to wonder what kind of horror could cause someone to run to Joker's feet and plead to get killed.

_"Far less than what you intended to do to me or what the other holders have done"_\- Her digital voice held no inflexion and the distortion made it sound hollowed. –"_But that is irrelevant. I'm going to use him for a little experiment and he'll be of more use than merely a time consuming instance for Julius_." – He could not see her face behind her equipment, but he could image that her eyes had taken upon that circular reddish digital glow around her pupils that sometimes appeared when she was locking on a target.-"_Stand back, Joker."_

That had been an order.

Joker, both of him, took a few steps back from the wailing man to let her get close to her prey. She chuckled in a perfectly evil way that sounded hollow and cruel, before she began singing a small tune in unknown words that somehow captivated his ears with their dissonance but that felt like a chill over his clock. It was as beautiful as it was ghastly.

That was when the incomprehensible horror began.

The shadow below the foreigner mercenary, in a formless mobile mass of flat swirls that moved apparently on it's own, extended from her along the floor in the direction of the wailing faceless and sank into the floor like waves on water on the man's shadow before jumping up and penetrating into his skin causing him to let out a scream of agony as the shadow threads moved clearly below the flesh like thick guitar cords that were being pulled between the skin and muscles cutting them like band saws. Then, in the next couple of seconds, the darkness tendrils inside the man inflated the skin, and with a bloping sound that got mixed with the screams, hundreds of spikes made out of solidified darkness punctured through the skin before angling and moving in fast dancing waves cutting the flesh and ripping the body from inside while splats of blood and flesh were expelled around and slashed over Joker's clothes and face.

To Joker's horror and amazement, the fleshly remains of the man immediately dissolved into an after image that retained far more mass and form than they usually did. It still resembled the man it had been. But that wasn't all. What came next was even more horrible. The extended shadow retreated for a second as if to prepare a strike to the after image, but the after image was sucked into the clock that had been it's heart before the darkness hit where it had been, letting the darkness sink into the floor once again and become a shadow on the floor.

Aria took even more steps forward and kicked the clock towards Joker with utter disdain to let him see that the mechanical imitation of a heart was still tickling.

Joker's eyes widened in disbelief as he truly took a step back in shock. The last time he had seen shadows move like that was by the Jabberwock's command. The killing method had been horribly impressive, but to deny the possibility of life to an after image and a clock ... For an after image to be trapped into its clock like that... This was terrible even for him. In all his existence he had never seen something like this.

"_What are you planning, Aria_?"- . The Jabberwocky had almost given Joker a fate worse than dead. She had saved him, but she was dealing fates even more horrible. He wondered if the clocks that were in possession of her men were tickling… A chill went past his spine. This... this was just the worst thing possible. To trap an after image in that way... This was beyond horrible.

She chuckled again and removed the mask from her face to show her expression changing to one of dementia and derangement. The clear face of 'madness'. -"_So beautiful. So terrible. So powerful..."-_ She sing sang.

_"Aria… You stupid foreigner_!"- The other Joker yelled at her while his fists trembled from the force he was putting in them. The madness had gotten to her, just like in Diamond, but in a more dangerous way. The warden side of Joker gritted his teeth. She had been lost once again. With her heart off, so was her mind. She never did things that didn't power a bigger goal, and this was surely no exception. Seeing this and thinking how she had hugged him out of happiness that he was alive not so long ago made him realize how bad it had turned out to her. Even if she was his friend he could not overlook this. But what was she planning? He growled. It didn't matter. Even if she was a foreigner and not subjected to the rules, even if he had actually come to regard her as not a simple toy for him, but as a sort of real 'friend', he could not allow this. This messed the game and the balance. He would have to do something, such was his duty.

"_Evil Overlord List, rule # 7: "When my adversary asks about my evil plan, I'll say, '__**No**_.' and shoot him. "- She raised a handgun in his direction while her other hand went behind her back -"_No, no. On second thought I'll shoot him first, and then say "No." –_ She agitated her weapon but didn't shoot him.

"_Evil overlord? What do you think you are? Some stupid Lord of Chaos and Darkness? HA!"_ \- White laughed with equal derangement.-" _You're just a stupid crazy foreigner, my friend._"- The jester was as affected as his counterpart to resort to direct petty insults.

Her body tensed and her whole demeanor hardened. -"_Stupid? No. Crazy? Yes. Friend? No more. You fucked that up"-_ She put away the gun and her hands reached below her hoodie for the happy and scowling masks that were her earrings, and that looked like smaller version of the masks on his belts and that were actually the connector of a past joker and a relic with the power of excluding Joker from his duties regarding the wearer as long as there was an agreement, allowing Joker to freely act as he wanted towards the person who had the relic.

_"Let's make this point a funny warning, si?"_\- The derangement and total lack of compassion was clear in her face and her accent showing up. - _"Just a little order. Joker known as White. You will take care of the duties regarding the prison. And Joker known as Black. You will take care of the duties corresponding to the circus_."- She didn't give him time to react and threw three items at him with sneering scorn. Two of those items where her earrings, the symbol if their weird friendship. -" _Unless you still want me to kill you,_ _don't get involved, Joker_."

One Joker scowled and the other smiled feraly at her. But both of him caught one earring each in the air while the third thing she had thrown towards him exploded, it was a flash grenade that temporarily left him blind and deaf but screaming profanities. When he regained his senses, she and the ticking clock had already disappeared, clearly leaving no trace behind.

The warden cussed madly every profanity he knew while the jester breathed hard. Joker lifted his hand and saw the earrings. His eyes narrowed as he closed his firsts over the little masks. He knew well what this meant. It meant war. She had thrown their so called friendship away and had defied him openly. She had dared threaten him and it was obvious that she was doing stuff that that threatened the game, the rules and the entire balance of Wonderland. Were she an inhabitant of this world, this would warrant her the heaviest of penalties. He knew what he had to do, but for some reason he wasn't excited about this, and he couldn't but to cradle the horrible suspicion that this was, at least partly, his own damn fault. But one way or another, this had to be fixed.

With the earrings tightly clutched in his hands, he returned to his territory and both of them headed for the prison, where they went straight to the warden's room to lay on the bed and think on what they would do. No conversation was issued. No ideas came for either of them. Just a horribly tight weight on his clocks could be felt. For now neither Joker wanted to think about it, not at the moment. Joker didn't wanted to think that he had lost the only friend he had ever had, that he had pushed her to beyond the edge of madness and that he had unleashed a horror almost as terrible as a fruming beast into this side of the mirror. He didn't want to think about the few times that he had leaned on her, the times she had crashed at this place, helped him out at either of his territories, supported him and asserted their friendship to the other holders with pride, her occasional cooking, or their few laid down times that made him feel as if he had already captured the foreigner. He didn't want to think on how if she wasn't stopped soon, things would not end well for anyone before her time and the affright events of her world caught up to her, nor did he want to acknowledge yet that this was a dire race against time.

They couldn't sleep, not after what happened. So they left the earrings over the bed and went to check on their new assigned duties.

.

* * *

.

**I'll be honest. This chapter got me excited. If Aria didn't have empathy or sympathy before now she has no restrains, but she seems to have a goal and that is probably very dangerous when it comes to someone like her. And Joker may just have realized that making her get loose and go postal, maybe wasn't a good idea. **

**.**


End file.
